Seychelles

Training and Morale

Historically, with the exception of the air wing, the
armed
forces have been poorly trained and suffered from low
morale.
Beginning in the late 1980s, the government began to
establish a
military training infrastructure. On May 16, 1987, the
first
noncommissioned officers (NCOs) passed through a
three-month
refresher course at the SPDF NCO Training School. At the
graduation ceremony, Chief of Staff James Michel told the
NCOs
that a new career development program would give each of
them "an
equal opportunity to develop his career and rise up the
promotion
scale to the highest ranks." On May 7, 1988, the SPDF,
supported
by the People's Militia, conducted a simulated offensive
at the
Grand Police Military Training Center. The troops covered
offensive and defensive military tactics, weapons
training, field
communications and engineering, first aid, map reading,
and other
military subjects. On June 2, 1990, officials opened the
Seychelles Defence Academy, which provided training
courses for
the SPDF, the People's Militia, and the police. Despite
these
efforts, the SPLA and the navy wing have failed to improve
their
capabilities. Personnel suffer from low morale, poor
qualifications, and ineffective combat skills.

The air wing, however, shows a relatively high degree
of
professionalism. All pilots receive training in the Cessna
A-150
before moving on to the Britten-Norman. After building up
the
requisite number of flying hours and obtaining the
necessary
commercial licenses, most pilots are seconded to the
national
airline, Air Seychelles. Some pilots are assigned to the
Seychelles government, which operates one Cessna Citation
and one
Cessna Caravan II as passenger and light transport
aircraft.